Autograph Sessions: Did you bring your books to be
autographed? If not, I'm sure our Merchants' Corner can supply your
book needs. Our Guests of Honour will have two autographing sessions
at the convention. As well, many other attending authors will be
signing books in the Merchants' Corner. Come by regularly to see who's
there!

Book Sales: If you are an author, check with the Sentry Box
or Owls' Nest books to be sure they have your books on sale at the
Merchants' Corner. If not, contact WWC ahead of time to inquire
about the authors' cooperative table. Bring your books Friday, sit
and sell for an hour over the weekend, and pick up your unsold
books/cash on Sunday. And, sign up in the Merchants' Corner to
autograph your books!

IFWA Table: The Imaginative Fiction Writers Association has
bought a table in the Merchants' Corner and is giving this service
free of charge to all authors attending When Words Collide, whether
they are members of IFWA or not (thank you,
IFWA!). Renée Bennett has volunteered to coordinate people
to man the table. The concept is this: if each author selling books
sits the table for an hour or so, and sells all the other authors'
books, then the table is fully manned for the whole conference with
minimum effort on anyone's part: everyone wins! Last year, 33 books
were sold; as well, authors get exposure for their books and can do
signings while they sit the table.
If you are interested, please read over the following guidelines and
contact Renée Bennett at ruadhan@shaw.ca to express
interest. Renée will be setting up the schedule.

The author may put three titles on the table (more if space is
available). However, none of the titles on the table can be available from
other vendors at the convention. Titles which are available through other
vendors must be sold through those vendors. However, you may have a display
copy on the table.

Authors with books on the table must volunteer for at least
one hour manning the table. They may volunteer for more than one hour.
First come, first served, regarding times.

Please state author name, title(s), numbers of copies of each
title brought, and prices of same ahead of time. This can also be done at
the table, but it's easier to organise things if the information is
available sooner.

Books may be dropped off at the table on Friday, August 10, at
5:30 P.M.. If someone is at the table earlier, they may be dropped off
earlier. Books may be dropped off at the table at any time during the
convention when there is a person manning the table. Authors may drop off
as many as they feel will sell. Be aware that extras may be used as
furniture, however!

Some stands and other display paraphernalia will be available,
but authors are encouraged to bring their own. Labels are good.

Giveaways (bookmarks, business cards, cookies, fine Flemish
chocolates, free vacations in Hawaii) are not necessary, but are
encouraged.

Remember: we start earlier this year! Registration opens at
noon and programming at 1:00 PM

If you have a manuscript or two you would like feedback on, dust
it off. There are a few offerings that will help with this.

Blue Pencil Café: Bring 1-2 pages of your latest
manuscript (typed, 12-point font, double-spaced) for our Blue Pencil
Cafés to get advice from an industry professional. Sign-up
sheets will be in the Merchant's Corner central table until just
before the session starts. If you miss signing up, you can line up
outside the door in case of a vacant spot or cancellation.

Live Action Slush: Bring your manuscript to be read
anonymously out loud. No one will know it is your manuscript unless
you tell them. Here you will get feedback not only from our panel of
experts but audience reaction will also give you an idea of what they
think. We will have an area available at the registration area where
you can place the first couple of pages of your manuscript up to an
hour before the panel so anonymity can be retained.

Pitch Session: Rehearse your pitch for Pitch Sessions with
our editors and publishers. Sign-up sheets will be in the Merchant's
Corner central table until just before the session starts. If you miss
signing up, you can line up outside the door in case of a vacant spot
or cancellation.

Poetry Open Mic: Don't forget to write poetry to read aloud
at our Poetry Open Mic! Sign-up sheets will be in the Merchant's
Corner central table until just before the session starts. If you miss
signing up, you can line up outside the door in case of a vacant spot
or cancellation.

Aurora Banquet: Buy tickets online prior to August 1 if you
wish to attend our Aurora Awards Banquet. Or, simply show up after
the banquet to attend the awards!

Parties!
Set aside your Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings for socials and
parties. Remember: even though a party may be sponsored by one
Affiliate group or another, they are open to everyone at the
convention. Plan to drift from one to the next, and meet and mingle
with your favourite authors, Guests of Honour and fellow
readers!

Many of our guests of honour are coming into town a day or two
early and have agreed to do some readings outside our little
gathering. Their books will also be on sale at the reading sites if
you wish to purchase them and get a couple of autographs early. Here
is the schedule:

Thursday, August 9th:The University of Calgary will be hosting
a reading at 7 PM on Thursday on the main floor of the new Gallery
Hall in the Tailor Family Library.
For anyone that needs these, here are the links to the U of C Campus
Map and the U of C Parking
Map.

Friday August 10th:The Calgary Public Library will be
hosting a reading at noon on the main floor of the William Castell
Central Library.

We know not everybody will be arriving the same way, so here are some
ideas on how to get to our little gathering:

Public Transit: Calgary
Transit has a rapid bus (The 300 — insert Spartan joke here)
that runs from the airport to downtown. This runs 5am - midnight seven
days a week. The cost is $8.00 using a special transit pass that can
be purchased from the Mac's in the airport terminal. Once downtown,
you need to take a NW LRT Train ("Crowfoot train") to the Banff Trail
station. This train is accessed on the north side of 7th avenue. This
same transit pass used to get downtown will also apply to the C-Train
so there is no extra cost from downtown. From the Banff Trail station
it's a quick walk south (approx 1/2 block) to the hotel.

To get back to the airport you will need to take the C-Train
downtown at a cost of $2.75. This can be purchased individually at
terminals in each C-Train station (exact change) or packs of 10 can be
purchased at most convenience stores. Once downtown you can then
transfer to the rapid bus (300) to the airport at no additional
cost.

Shuttle: There is also a shuttle service that runs from the
airport to downtown. This runs between 7am and midnight. Technically
they run to
the downtown hotels but several hotels are on 7th avenue where the
C-Train stops so you can still take this (I'd get on/off at the
Hyatt Regency, the station across the street will take you to the
hotel). This shuttle costs $15. You'll still have to take the C-Train
to/from the hotel from there. The cost of the C-Train at this point is
$2.75 and can either be purchased individually at terminals found at
each station (exact change) or in packs of 10 at the Mac's in the
airport terminal.

Taxi:Associated
Cab is the airport's official taxi service. The approximate cost
to go from the airport to our hotel is around $45 to $50

Driving: The hotel is located at 1804 Crowchild trail
NW. To access the hotel, however, you do need to take either the 23rd
Avenue turnoff or the Banff Trail Turn off and access the hotel from behind. The hotel has lots
of inexpensive underground parking as well as some free above ground
parking.

Registration opens at noon on Friday and 9am on
Saturday. While we try our best to be organised we are all human. It
is strongly suggested you bring proof of payment with you just in case
there is an error in our records.

Don't forget to sign up for the Kaffee Klatschs and hand in a
manuscript for the Live Action Slushes.

And finally, Don't forget to bring your sense of excitement, awe,
and wonder. We'll see you on August 10!